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I am a sucker for pore/sebum control products. Whenever I hear those words, I know I need to have it! I was in a market for a new wash off pack so when I found out about products Secret Key Blackout Pore Minimizing Pack and Tosowoong Miracle Skin Pore Tightening Pack I brought it right away. I thought it would be fun to compare the two since they are marketed to do similar things. I used the Tosowoong on my left side and Secret Key on my right. Initially I wanted to only do it for 3 days, but I ended up loving it so much that I extending it to 1.5 weeks (10 days). If you follow me on Instagram you may already know the progress but let’s get to the details! This is going to be a loooooong post!!

First let us talk about the products itself:

Tosowoong Miracle Skin Pore Tightening PackAll of its packaging is in Korean so I of course turn to the internet to find out what this pack does. The pore pack claims to be effective for problematic skin, have lifting function and reduce sebum. Its featured ingredients include Camellia flower complex (make skin clear, smooth and silky), Tea Tree oil (to calm and cleanse the skin), Gallnut complex (to make skin less oily), 99.9% pure Platinum (to protect and make skin silky), and Ivy complex (to reduce pores). It also features 99.9% of pure nano whitegold overflowing with rich minerals to effectively lift and brighten the skin. This pore pack is suppose to be able to transforms your skin to a much flawless, poreless complexion in just a couple of uses!

To use: on clean dry face, apply the pore pack avoiding the areas around the mouth and eyes. Allow it to dry for about 15 minutes, wash off with water.

Packaging: 150g squeeze tube in black matte with a silver colored cap. It looks super elegant and unisex friendly. (My boyfriend seem to steer clear from my cutesy packaging but I can see him appreciating this packaging)

To make sure I was testing the effects of the Pore Packs, I kept my nighttime and morning routine the same and short. I would start off with double cleansing (products not shown here) and follow up with: Let’s Cure Pure Skin Basic Step Exfoliator, CosRx BHA Summer Pore Minish Serum, CosRx Advance Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence, CosRx Advance Snail 92 All-in-one Cream and Claire’s Guerisson 9 Complex around the eyes. Each morning I would do a sheet mask for about 30 minutes. The masks were just for hydration purposes. I mostly used MBD and Leaders masks. Day 1, My initial thoughts: Secret Key Black Out Pore Minimizing Pack has such a weird smell. I do not particularly like it. But it is not overwhelming and dissipates after a while. I actually really like the smell of Tosowoong Miracle Skin Pore Tightening Pack. It smells super earthy due to its herbal content. Tosowoong had a slightly tingling sensation when I first applied it. It never happen again nor was it problematic. Overall I was happy the first time I used it. The effects were instantaneous. Can you tell the difference? I noticed my skin was overall much smoother and less red. Pores were not very noticeably different but touching it felt a lot smoother.Day2: HOLY CRAP! I am in LOVE! The biggest difference I see was sebum control. I used it at night, then did my daily sheet masking in the morning. That whole day, I could not believe when I touch my t-zone. I literally work at 95 degrees temperature (in the clinic we have the central heater, space heater and heat lamps on). Usually by the 3rd hour I need to wash my face because it would be so so SO oily. I did not have to wash my face at all. The Tosowoong side was moist but not oily; Secret Key side was completely matte!

Day3: I decided to test the sebum control of both products with makeup. I first prepped my skin with MBD in Apple Polyphenol Mask and following up with Manyo Factory Pore & Sebum control Galactomy T-Serum. For reference, here was the makeup I used: IPKN Sebum Control Sun Gel Essence, Laneige BB Cushion, Clio Tinted Tattoo Kill Brow, Lorac Haute Couture Palette in Sand Tropez, Memebox x So Yong Stick Shadow in Lovely Rose Gold, Heroine Make Volume & Curl Mascara, Too Cool For School Milk Tint, Duo Eyelash Adhesive, and Daiso fake Lashes. I purposely skipped primer and powder to test the sebum control.I was floored by the results o_O!! I was surprised how flawless my skin looked without using primer. I have to admit I kept checking myself out hehe. I do not remember the last time I was able to hide my crater pores that well (even with primer). I know a part of it is using it in combination with Manyo Factory Pore & Sebum control Galactomy T-Serum (review coming up soon) but even when I did full makeup before testing the pore pack, it did not give me the same results. I am so happy I can skip primer from now on. BYE BYE PRIMERS! *In Primer-Free FREEDOM* I literally hate the feeling of primer on my skin and it one of the main reasons why I rarely wear full face makeup. I kept the makeup on for 14 hours and was even more impressed. My makeup of course started to melt a bit and my t-zone was getting shiny but I did not blot, powder or touch up in any way. There wasn’t any dramatic difference between the two sides.Day 4: I am continuing to see even better results with my pores. I have a very problematic ice pick pore (smaller opening but very deep) on left side that fills up with sebaceous filaments Every.Single.Day no matter how much I clean it out. I am noticing that there is less stuff inside by the end of the day. Overall that pore just looks, well looks less noticeable. On my right side I have more crater pores (wider pores but less deep), they overall just look smoother.

Day 10: Fast forward a bit here. I cannot believe how much more amazed I am with these two products. Just take a look from my before and after picture. I do apologize that my phone does not take the greatest quality selfies but even then I think you can see the difference. The overall skin texture is so much smoother. That ice pick on my left side is finalllllly SF free! My now I really notice the brightening effect of the Tososwoong pore pack. It also helped with my acne around my jawline and reduce overall redness.

Comparison

To be honest they both work very well. The differences between the two products are not dramatic so if you have one there’s no particular need to get the other one. Both sebum control was amazing!! If I had to choose, Secret Key was slightly better in this department. I also felt like it also cleaned my pores a bit more strongly. My pores were very happy with daily masking for both pore packs. My skin has NEVER been so smoothed before. The Secret Key also was just a tad better in minimizing my pores. In terms of brightening, Tosowoong was better. It also soften my skin a bit better as well. Secret Key was just a tad too drying if used daily, making it a better product for extra oily skin types. Tosowoong is more ideal for problematic skin since it helped soothe any breakouts but I won’t rely on it solely for acne. Secret Key did nothing for pimples.

Tosowoong was the winner🏆 for me because it also helped calm any breakout I had. I literally ate so much junk food to make pimples for this experiment😨😨 And I like the smell so much more. TBH both are amazing products with no dramatic differences between the two in terms of sebum control and pore minimizing💕💕💕 I am literally going to stock up on this! I used a lot of clay masks before. I never was able to do daily masking without over drying my skin. I just love the fact I can do this on a daily or a few times per week without worrying about ove rdrying and getting both sebum and pore minimizing effects. HUGE 👍👍👍

For the lazy part of me, I know I would be reaching Secret Key’s pore pack more often because I cannot keep up with daily clay masking. At least to start with Secret Key’s when I haven’t clay mask (OYESS I made it a verb!) for awhile then followup with Tosowoong.Since I feel like Secret Key’s cleaning power is just a tad stronger.

For reference I have oily skin with craters for pores😖 but I found a dramatic difference once I stopped using it for 3 days. So effects are temporary but amazing!! Below is a comparison char

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Published by emilysdaily

Hi thank you for stopping by!
My name is Emily and I am a 28 year old acupuncturist with way too many obsessions. This blog is really a place where I would love to share my obsessions with other like-minded individuals. I know most people describe what they like to do on their free time as hobbies but once I am interested I just dive right in. Obsession or fanatic just describe it more accurately.
So what is it that I am obsessed with? Let’s see… I LOVE skin care! I had struggled with various stages of horrible skin (read about my skin story here) so I love finding new products. One of my dreams to create my own skincare line to help as many people as possible!
Oh and Hello Kitty to the point it makes you nauseous. I believe some people actually think I live in a Hello Kitty house. Although that does not seem like a bad idea….
In whatever free time I have, I am crafting. I really try to DIY everything possible, even if it means it becomes a nightmare (which happens too often). My favorite craft activities include jewelry making, scrapbooking, making polymer clay figurines and DIY home décor.
I feel like DIY and cooking goes hand-in-hand with each other. I like eating out and trying new food. But I love trying to re-create it at home with my own twist. It just gives me so much satisfaction to cook a nice meal. As an acupuncturist I may insert a few Chinese Medicine food tips here and there but mostly will be contained on my professional page here.
I also have grey tabby kitten name Mew Mew and Holland Lop rabbit name Toffee. They both don’t like to sit still for pictures but on those rare occasions they do, they will grace my instagram.
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